Forum flash | In tune

Kim Tichenor, center, and other members of the Louisville Orchestra

In tune

The news that the Louisville Orchestra Association and members of Local 11-637 of the American Federation of Musicians have reached agreement on a three-year contract is, well, music to the ears of everyone who loves and values the role of art in the community.

As reported by the CJ's Elizabeth Kramer earlier this week, the contract, which runs June 1 through May 31, 2016, did not come without some sacrifice. It freezes musicians' wages for two years and gives them a 3 percent bump in the third year. There are 16 fewer musicians than there were three years ago, and they play for a 30-week schedule instead of the former 37-week schedule.

Kim Tichenor, a violinist and chair of the musicians' orchestra committee told Ms. Kramer, "We have taken some pretty big cuts here; however we are showing faith in the new board and its leadership as well as the new management. We feel strongly that they'll be able to turn this organization around."

We can only wish and hope. The bitter standoff that kept the orchestra from making any music in the 2011-12 season is an unhappy memory for more than those intimately involved in the orchestra. It put a pall on the whole community, one that is receding with what seems to be a new spirit of collaboration and cooperation.

Here's to more beautiful music - the playing kind and the getting along kind.

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Forum flash | In tune

The news that the Louisville Orchestra Association and members of Local 11-637 of the American Federation of Musicians have reached agreement on a three-year contract is, well, music to the ears of